1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to quality control in field service applications. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to a work order approval system and method of performing quality control in field service applications, such as locate operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Field service applications may be any application in which companies dispatch technicians and/or other staff into the field in order to perform, for example, certain installations, services, and/or repairs. Field service applications may exist in industries, such as, but not limited to, network installations, utility installations, security systems, construction, medical equipment, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), and the like.
In certain field service applications, there may be an associated work order for each field call. These work orders are hereafter referred to as tickets. The ticket information may include, for example, the physical address or other location information to which the field technician is dispatched, the type of installation service, and/or repair that is requested. Depending on the field service application, certain processes may exist for verifying certain aspects of the installations, services, and/or repairs that are to be performed by the field service technicians according to the ticket information. Since there may be numerous field technicians, each of whom are assigned numerous tickets, implementing and performing meaningful oversight and quality control activities in a timely fashion may be difficult. As a result of the limited quality control activities in certain field service applications, customer satisfaction may be adversely affected. Additionally, the time, effort, and cost that is associated with re-performing work in the field or with correcting and/or improving poorly performed field calls may be unacceptable.
Consequently, a need exists for methods of providing oversight and quality control in field service applications in order to improve customer satisfaction, to identify and reduce the number of poorly performed tickets, and to improve visibility into distributed workforce operations. More specifically, a need exists for improved approaches to quality control in the underground facility locate industry in order to improve customer satisfaction and to reduce the risk of damage to underground facilities due to poorly performed locate operations.